I had a photography teacher that said "anything but a Minolta" he then realized someone in the class had one and wouldn't give a reason for his opinion. Just felt like sharing that.

How do Minolta's rank with Canon or Nikon? See the reason why I am asking is my wife wants to get a Minolta because she thinks they are the best thing god ever created, I however disagree and would rather get a Nikon.

Yes but she wants a nice camera, we have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40K 14.1 MP Digital Camera right now and I think that takes fantastic pics but she wants a DSLR camera. Big friggin price jump there, are they really worth it?

I have always used Canon cameras. I went the DSLR route for awhile but got tired of carrying all the weight around and went back to a 2 different high end point and shoots. Have her carry a big camera bag or something like it around full of weight for awhile.

My film camera was a SLR. I miss it. The digital I have is point & shoot as the DSLR's are way out of my price range. But you have control over SLR cameras. Plus it takes a little talent/learning to use. More of a challenge. More fun. More of a hobby. Anyone can do point & shoot. Just my little unasked for opinion :- )

Wife and I recently purchased the Cannon PowerShot SX230 HS and a PowerShot S95 for our honeymoon to Europe. Both are point and shoot cameras. I really like the quality of picture I get from the S95 and the 14x Optical zoom of the SX230. You can definitely see the difference in photo quality between the two if you take a picture of the same thing though. I can only think of 1 or 2 times I would have liked to have a higher quality camera while we were there and it was awesome not having to carry a big camera and bag around to get decent pictures. I see that the Powershot 100 is out now, if you want a SLRish image in point and shoot size, its a pretty good compromise between the two. I just wish I knew more about how to take a good picture. I'm still trying to learn that part. For what it is, Wife and I are very happy with the pictures from those 2 cameras.

I had a photography teacher that said "anything but a Minolta" he then realized someone in the class had one and wouldn't give a reason for his opinion. Just felt like sharing that.

Back in the day (i.e. when 35mm SLRs "took off" in the 70s and early 80s) Minoltas were always considered as "consumer grade" while Nikon/Canon were "hobbyist/pro grade". Not to say you couldn't do great work with any, it was just a stigma. In the 4x4 world, Nikon/Canon were solid axle units with 2-speed transfer cases while Minoltas were AWD Ford Escapes.

no they are not.
have had several point and shoots. great cameras for still photos. however, for snapping moving events, the focus takes too long to power up and have "lost" some potentially great shots.
rather go back to manual focus on a long lense and some 3pics/sec capability.

So for my last comment on the subject, I'll just say: Point & shoots take very good pictures with no skills required. They're cheaper, and yes lighter. So what is it your wife wants to do? Just do some shots of family for a scrapbook? Do some work worthy of framing? Does she want to control whether the picture...say of a truck (since it's a 4X4 site) shows movement or just freezes in the frame? Does she want maybe sharper focus on some pictures then others? A little less light. Or my personal favorite: paint with light. How much control does she want over her camera? Is it going to be an occassional thing or a hoby? If you go with the DSLR, and she takes a class or two....the pictures won't be good. They'll be awesome. Again, my unasked for opinion. You know what they say about us ladies, we all have an opinion and we believe everyone has the right to hear it!

So for my last comment on the subject, I'll just say: Point & shoots take very good pictures with no skills required. They're cheaper, and yes lighter. So what is it your wife wants to do? Just do some shots of family for a scrapbook? Do some work worthy of framing? Does she want to control whether the picture...say of a truck (since it's a 4X4 site) shows movement or just freezes in the frame? Does she want maybe sharper focus on some pictures then others? A little less light. Or my personal favorite: paint with light. How much control does she want over her camera? Is it going to be an occassional thing or a hoby? If you go with the DSLR, and she takes a class or two....the pictures won't be good. They'll be awesome. Again, my unasked for opinion. You know what they say about us ladies, we all have an opinion and we believe everyone has the right to hear it!

She wants to take photography classes and start her own photography business, weddings, senior pics, ect.

She wants to take photography classes and start her own photography business, weddings, senior pics, ect.

Then go with cannon or nikon DSLR. My daughter does weddings, bands, reuniuns, grad pics......whatever. She uses a cannon dslr. Not sure what model. Classes are almost a must~Community ed even. Some of them have great instructors. After all, it's 20 percent instruction, 80 percent practice. OH! I forgot I was done commenting on this thread. It's just that I have a passion for photography. Best of luck to your wife :- )

My wife took a photography class a few years back. We bought a Canon Rebel EOS T2. Its a 35mm. It takes fantastic pictures, but developing film can get pricey. She wants a digital one now. I'm not a big photo taker guy, but the canon is very user friendly.